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Canada competition bureau drops probe of Apple

Sat, Jan 07, 2017 - 6:40 AM

Canada's competition watchdog announced on Friday it is closing its two-year investigation into whether Apple's contracts with local wireless carriers illegally stifled competition when it introduced the iPhone.

PHOTO: REUTERS

[OTTAWA] Canada's competition watchdog announced on Friday it is closing its two-year investigation into whether Apple's contracts with local wireless carriers illegally stifled competition when it introduced the iPhone.

The probe, opened in December 2014 by the Competition Bureau, failed to find sufficient evidence that the tech giant had engaged in anti-competitive behaviour.

"The Bureau did not find sufficient evidence to conclude that Apple has engaged in an abuse of dominance under the Competition Act," the federal agency said.

The watchdog was investigating whether the contracts were affecting wireless carriers' incentives to push iPhones over other smartphone brands.

At the time of its 2008 Canada launch, Apple's smartphone was provided exclusively by telecommunications firm Rogers, before it was eventually made available by other carriers.